Williams Racing taking the positives after season ends in Abu Dhabi

The Williams Racing F1 team, partnered by Acronis, is taking the positives from a challenging season after Alexander Albon just missed out on further points in Abu Dhabi and Nicholas Latifi retired early.

With both drivers propping up the grid after qualifying, Canadian Latifi was struck down with a late electrical issue, Albon was once again the star of the show, forging his way through the field to an ultimately unlucky 13^th.

Regardless, and with preparations for 2023 and the development of the FW45 well underway many months ago, there are many positive still to take from this year.

“I’d like to say a huge thank you to every member of the team both at track and back at the factory,” commented Jost Capito, CEO and Team Principal. “It’s been an intense, challenging year and each person put in maximum effort. We can be proud of the progress we made during the year and the points scoring results we achieved on pace and merit.

“Of course, tenth is never where we want to be in the championship and our focus is fully on progressing in 2023. We go straight onto the young driver’s test here in Abu Dhabi so there is no rest for the team quite yet, and we look forward to having a productive day on Tuesday.”

For Albon, who ends the season with another strong drive and points scoring finishes at three venues in the bag, there was also much to be encouraged about moving forwards.

“I’m really happy with my race today and I think with such a strong start, getting passed four or five cars in those first laps, it was great,” said Albon. “We did fall short at the end finishing on warn tyres, but I think starting P19 and finishing P13 is a good job, so I’m really happy.

This year has been a massive team effort and we’ve done our best in maximising the car. We know our weaknesses and we’ve maximised our opportunities when we were struggling, and when the car was in a decent window, that’s when we scored points.

“This puts us in a good place for when we have a better car next year. All in all, thanks to everyone at the team for all their efforts this year.”

And for the outgoing Nicholas Latifi, the popular Canadian leaves the sport with his head held high after three seasons with the team.

It wouldn't be the end of the season without a wholesome helmet swap 🥰#WeAreWilliams @NicholasLatifi @alex_albon pic.twitter.com/5748tc2nxZ

— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) November 21, 2022

“I’m leaving the sport feeling like I wanted to achieve and accomplish more however it doesn’t always work out like that in motorsports,” added Latifi. “Along the way there’s been highs and lows with many strong bonds and friendships that I’ll cherish.

Capito added his praise for the professionalism and dedication of a much-loved member of the team.

“I’d like to say a huge thanks to Nicholas for his three years racing with the team. He’s a much-loved member of the team and will always remain a member of the Williams family – we wish him all the very best of luck for his future.”

Thank you for everything, @NicholasLatifi 💙

After the race, Jost presented our Canadian with a piece of the FW43B from Nicky's first points-scoring finish in Hungary 🥹#WeAreWilliams #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/1W2qVHaOvX

— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) November 20, 2022

TEAM UP WITH ACRONIS

Prominent once again on the nose of the car and on the front wing endplates this season are the team’s official cyber protection partner Acronis. Williams Racing uses Acronis technology to add extra layers of protection to its IT infrastructure, protecting hundreds of servers and endpoint devices.

In the latest episode of the #DataLink with @Acronis, IT Director Doug Goodridge talks about how collating and protecting our data is so critical to the team 🔐
#WeAreWilliams #Cyberfit pic.twitter.com/tmikUjVruq

— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) October 19, 2022

During the 2021 season and continuing this year, Acronis opened up an exciting #TeamUp Program, giving new and existing service providers the opportunity to support sports partnerships, join the sports ecosystem, attend races and enjoy amazing sports marketing benefits.

It's critical that we have access to data wherever we are in the world 🌍

Performance Engineer Andrew Vizard explains how @Acronis help us remain #CyberFit as we travel the globe ✈️ pic.twitter.com/7VA2WmnBRa

— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) April 6, 2022

To find out more and to become a part of this exciting #TeamUp programme, please visit Cyber Protection for global sports – Acronis